Labor leader Bill Shorten has promised to be positive and has called on his frontbench to present the ALP as the party of ideas against a government he says is already running out of policy options.

But with the byelection looming in Griffith, in Brisbane's inner south-east, he is not above a bit of old-fashioned fear-mongering, warning the Abbott government has big, hidden cuts planned.

Addressing his first full shadow ministry meeting for the year in Brisbane, where he has been campaigning all week, Mr Shorten promised Labor would be a constructive opposition.

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''We're … going to be the ones with the ideas,'' he said in his opening comments.

He said Labor would be the party that ''stands up'' for the sick and the vulnerable and which would offer stronger policies on education and health.

The Opposition Leader was branded ''cocky'' by Prime Minister Tony Abbott earlier this week after he suggested Labor could win the next election and that Mr Abbott might therefore be a ''oncer'' in the Lodge.

The shadow ministry meeting took place in Brisbane, where Labor is pulling out all stops to retain Kevin Rudd's former seat on February 8.

As it had in the September federal election, the ALP is attempting to conflate widespread voter concerns over public service cuts by the Liberal National Party state government with the federal sphere.

''They've seen the pain and hardship that [Premier] Campbell Newman's cruel cuts have inflicted - and they're worried that Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey are planning more of the same,'' Mr Shorten told his colleagues. ''They're particularly worried that Tony Abbott has delayed the first report of the Commission of Audit by two weeks to make sure any cuts stay hidden before the byelection.''

The meeting was also addressed by Labor's intended replacement for Mr Rudd in Griffith, Terri Butler.

She faces a difficult task in holding off the popular and skilled LNP candidate, Bill Glasson.

A former national president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Glasson made serious inroads into Mr Rudd's vote just five months ago and strategists on both sides believe the absence of Mr Rudd could result in more Labor voters switching on February 8.

Despite Dr Glasson's medical credentials, Labor has tried to make health policy and access to services a key issue in the electorate, home to three major hospitals.

Both federal leaders are expected to return to Griffith at least one more time before polling day.